Tomorrow is a New Day
by Queen Angie the Unusual
Summary: "Today, you were Marjorie, the girl who betrayed her best friend. But tomorrow, you can be Marjorie, the girl who learned from her mistake. After all; tomorrow is a new day." AU oneshot.


**A/N****: This was basically an assignment where we had to write a story based on the theme _Tomorrow is a New Day_. I wasn't going to write it with Narnia characters at first, but then I thought "What the hell?" and this short story was born. It is AU, obviously. A little over six hundred words, maybe more.**

**Also, at the part where I have a character named Ash sitting with Jill; she is an OC that will be feautred in an upcoming Narnia story I'm working on, titled _The Lady Knight_. I had to put her in there, as a bit of a teaser. If you like my Edmund Love Story _Keep Holding On_, you'll probably like _The Lady Knight, _too.**

**I only own the storyline and Ash. All rights go to C.S. Lewis.**

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Marjorie could feel their eyes on her back as she walked to the front of the room. She knew they were staring at her before she even turned around. She knew what they were thinking without them having to say it; it was already written across their faces.

Marjorie nervously looked down at her essay. As if she wasn't already nervous about talking in front of the class, they were all staring at her like she had committed murder.

Although, in a way, she supposed she did. Word had spread like a wildfire about her incident with Anne Featherstone, how she had talk behind Lucy's back just to hang out with Anne's crowd. Of course, Anne had been lying about hanging out; she just wanted Marjorie to say awful things about Lucy, her best friend from elementary school. The moment she did, Anne's followers went right out and told Lucy. Lucy had looked beyond hurt, and Marjorie had spent most of the night crying, she felt so bad. By the next morning, everyone knew about what had happened, and avoided Marjorie like the plague.

And as she stood up there, reading her essay aloud to the class a week later, she could feel everyone staring at her. Jill and Ash, who used to be two of Marjorie's closest friends, refused to look at her. Eustace, Edmund, and Digory, all of whom are good friends with Lucy, glared daggers at her. Anne was grinning evilly, making Marjorie have a knot in her stomach. And then there was Lucy herself, who looked at Marjorie with a completely blank face, not an ounce of emotion on it.

That was what truly broke her. She couldn't do it. She couldn't read her essay, because she knew she would start to cry if she did.

"Ms. Plummer?" she asked quietly. "May I go to the restroom, please?"

Ms. Plummer sighed and shook her head. "Honestly Marjorie, can't you wait until after you present?"

"Maybe she's just afraid that she'll say something stupid that she doesn't mean," Edmund said, getting some people to laugh.

"Or something she does, but never had the nerve to say before," Jill said, and the whole class snickered.

"Enough, Jill! Edmund!" Ms. Plummer warned. "Now Marjorie, if you will."

Marjorie swallowed a lump in her throat. "_The Fall of Rome_." Her voice was dry and cracked. She couldn't read, she simply couldn't.

"Marjorie?" Ms. Plummer said.

Marjorie shook her head. "I'm sorry, Ms. Plummer. Really, I am." But when she spoke, her eyes went to Lucy. Her face was still blank.

Marjorie didn't wait for permission this time. She dashed out of the classroom and ran all the way to the bathroom. She slammed the stall door shut and sank to the floor, sobbing. It was Lucy's blank face that made her cry; because she knew that deep down, Lucy was hurting.

She wasn't sure how long she was in the bathroom when someone came in. She only stopped crying when there was a knock on her stall door.

"Marjorie?' Lucy's soft voice said. "Are you alright?"

Nothing happened at first, but then, slowly, Marjorie opened the stall door and looked at Lucy. The sight of her friend made her burst into tears again.

"Oh, Marjorie," Lucy cooed, pulling her friend into her arms and stroking her hair. "Whatever is wrong?"

"Everything!" Marjorie sobbed. "Anne's being simply wicked, Edmund and Jill are being nasty, and—and…" She sobbed even harder.

"It's alright, Marjorie," Lucy cooed. "Anne's just a nasty human being; she always has been. Jill and Edmund don't mean it. It's all just words, nothing more. Shush now; everything's alright."

Soon, Marjorie's sobs turned into laughter, and the two girls pulled apart. Marjorie wiped her eyes and gave Lucy an ironic smile.

"It's funny, isn't it?" she laughed humorlessly. "You're comforting me, even after those nasty things I said about you." She sniffed. "I'm so sorry, Lucy. You know I didn't mean a word of it."

"I know, and I forgive you," Lucy said with a smile.

Marjorie's face dropped. "Lucy, I think you're mental. How can you just…forgive me, after all those things I said about you?"

"Because, like you said, you didn't mean it. And at the end of the day, you're still my best friend, Marjorie."

Marjorie finally smiled for real hugged her friend. When she pulled away, she sighed. "I just wish I never said any of that. Now everyone hates me. I just wish I could start over."

"But you can, Marjorie," Lucy said.

"What do you mean?" Marjorie cocked her head.

Lucy smiled. "Every day is like a fresh start; you have the opportunity to change who you are. Today, you were Marjorie, the girl who betrayed her best friend. But tomorrow, you can be Marjorie, the girl who learned from her mistake. After all, Marjorie; tomorrow is always a new day."

Marjorie smiled at her. How she loved having Lucy for a best friend. The two girls walked out of the bathroom, arm in arm, feeling a new sense of friendship that not even Anne Featherstone could dream of breaking.


End file.
